Author: Holland

Guide to Isla Vista Parks

Whether you are visiting with friends or family as a prospective student, or seeking new outdoor spots to enjoy, this walking guide to Isla Vista parks has everything you need. The guide gives a description of highlights at each park, including recreation, education, and nature. The parks are an important part of maintaining the community feel of Isla Vista, and this guide seeks to encourage the outdoor activity that is such a prominent part of the community.

The guide is arranged by distance from the UCSB campus.

Camino Pescadero Park

Location: At the end of Camino Pescadero, between the 6500 and 6600 blocks of Del Playa Drive

At-a-Glance: Beach access point, outdoor shower, picnic table, benches

Camino Pescadero Park is one of five beach access points along Del Playa, but is the only access point that boasts an outdoor shower, ideal for surfers and beachgoers alike. In addition to the shower, this park has a picnic table and open grass space, and benches overlooking the sea. Though small, this park is charming and captures the beachside town vibe of Isla Vista.

Camino Pescadero Park was redone in 2002. Along with the addition of amenities, the plant life was restored to reflect the native habitats found in coastal regions of Santa Barbara and Isla Vista. The native plant life enhances the atmosphere of the park as well as providing an educational aspect for visitors interested in botany.

​

The park also provides informational signs about the history of the Santa Barbara Channel and the Chumash Indians, which is a unique history relevant to the Isla Vista community.

Sueño Orchard

Location: Halfway down the 6700 block of Sueño Road

At-a-Glance: Orchard trees, Isla Vista Peace Disc Golf Course

The Sueño Orchard was started as a demonstration project in the 1980’s, and a variety of trees were grown with organic gardening methods, offering fresh produce to the public. Though the orchard does not produce as much as it once did, it is still representative of the community mindset characteristic of Isla Vista. This mindset is part of what makes Isla Vista such a unique and appealing place to live and visit.

​

The orchard is now the start of the Isla Vista Peace Disc Golf Course, with the first two holes at the center of the park. The Disc Golf Course is another of the many recreational activities that take place throughout the parks, encouraging students to engage in outdoor activities and wholesome fun with friends.

Sea Lookout Park

Location: At the end of Camino Corto, on Del Playa Drive between 6700 and 6800 blocks

At-a-Glance: Large open space, volleyball court, trail towards the beach, picnic tables and wooden platforms

If you’ve come to this park for relaxation, fun, or both, then you’re in the right place. With plenty of open space, you can lie out a blanket and read a book, or gather some friends for a game of beach volleyball. Sea Lookout Park is known for having free or donation-based yoga classes most Sundays. It is affectionately known as “dogshit” park by Isla Vistans, due to the high volume of dogs. To the right of the park is a path that can be followed to Sands Beach and Coal Oil Point, one of the more popular areas for sunbathing and surfing near Isla Vista.

​

The wooden platforms and benches are ideal for whale or dolphin watching. If you visit between late November and April, you are in for a treat, as the Pacific gray whale is migrating south with her calves in tow. The whale watching continues through the summer, when there is the possibility of seeing humpback and blue whales. Three different species of dolphins can be seen

playfully leaping out of the water just off the coast, including the Pacific white-sided dolphin, coastal bottlenose dolphin, and rissos dolphin.

Tierra de Fortuna Park

Location: At the end of Fortuna Road, mountainside At-a-Glance: Family-friendly, playground, picnic area, shaded gazebo

Tierra de Fortuna is one of the greenest parks in Isla Vista, due to lush surrounding plant life. It has beautiful views of the mountains and trees, and it connects to the Kids Path for easy and safe beach access. The Kids Path runs alongside the nature preserve, and is a great way to enjoy the surrounding natural area and plant life native to the Santa Barbara region.

​

Quiet and off the beaten path, Tierra de Fortuna is ideal for picnics and family gatherings. The shaded gazebo features a picnic table, with soft, well-kept grass nearby. The playground includes a swing set, a teeter-totter, a merry-go-round (the last of its kind in the country), a sand pit with a digging toy, and a giant dinosaur climbing structure. The fun isn’t just for kids, though. This park also has trees that are perfect for setting up a slackline, and the open space is ideal for badminton, frisbee, or tossing a ball around. Right next to the park, at the end of Fortuna Road, there is a basketball hoop for added fun with friends and family.

Isla Vista Love and Remembrance Garden

Location: At People’s Park and Perfect Park, near Embarcadero Hall and Embarcadero Loop

At-a-Glance: Botanic landscape, benches, collaborative art

The Isla Vista Love and Remembrance Garden is a community art project in People’s Park and Perfect Park in the heart of Isla Vista. Commemorating the lives lost in the 2014 Isla Vista shooting, the garden speaks to the collaborative efforts of the UCSB and Isla Vista communities to foster an atmosphere of unity and healing.

​

The main attraction is a botanic landscape that stretches from People’s Park to Perfect Park, sponsored by local businesses and UCSB organizations. UCSB art students designed the six steel benches that are featured in the garden, one for each of the UCSB victims. As a community effort, the Isla Vista Love and Remembrance Garden is a must-see for visitors interested in student activism and artistic commemoration.

Children’s Park

Location: At the corner of Picasso Road and Abrego Road on Camino Del Sur

At-a-Glance: Playground, gazebo, handball court, grill, benches

Children’s Park features a large playground, handball courts, and grassy lawn for outdoor activities. In an area of Isla Vista primarily populated by families, Children’s Park is a popular destination for birthday parties and family gatherings. With a covered gazebo and barbecue grill, Children’s Park offers fun for the whole family. The Children’s Park Recreation Program works with local at-risk youth, and meets at the park weekly. Children’s Park is a local favorite, and a wonderful, safe destination for Isla Vista visitors with small children.

Window to the Sea

Location: 6600 block of Del Playa Drive, oceanside

At-a-Glance: Breathtaking ocean views, loveseat swing, plants

A local gem, Window to the Sea is a small park overlooking the ocean with a tree swing and grassy area. Nestled between oceanside Del Playa houses, Window to the Sea is a great spot for some time alone or with a friend.

​

Catch a beautiful Isla Vista sunset while swinging gently above the ocean, and maybe even get a glimpse of a whale during migration season. Dolphins and sea lions are prevalent throughout the year, and are frequently spotted from Window to the Sea. The lookout point is peaceful and serene, offering an authentic slice of everyday Isla Vista life.

Tipi Village & Estero Community Gardens

Location: 6700 block of Sueño Road, between Camino del Sur and Camino Corto

At-a-Glance: native plants, community gardens, Isla Vista Peace Disk Golf Course

Named after an experiment in sustainable living that featured a community of tipis, Tipi Village is adjacent to the Estero Community Gardens, which are open year round for community members to plant and care for fruits and vegetables. Featuring holes 3 and 4 of the Isla Vista Peace Disk Golf Course, Tipi Village functions as one of many important historical sites for activist history in Isla Vista. The Red Barn, situated amidst a grove-preserve in the park, hearkens to Isla Vista’s past as a ranching community, linking present day activities to past livelihoods. Tipi Village and the Estero Community Gardens are part of the larger Estero Park, located between Camino del Sur and Camino Corto. Estero Park boasts a wide range of activities, from traditional recreational sports, to points of historical significance and community activism. The Estero Community Gardens are a leading example of sustainability in the Isla Vista and Santa Barbara communities.

For more information and to explore other parks, visit Isla Vista Parks and Recreation:

I think the first time I understood what freedom felt like was when I moved into my first apartment in Isla Vista. No more overbearing RAs threatening to write you up for suspicious smells. No more sneaking out of the bedroom window to hang out with friends on a weekday night. I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. The thermostat could be any temperature I wanted. Waking up and eating breakfast at 3 in the afternoon? No problem.

The best part, however, was deciding for myself what I would eat every day. I had gotten sick of eating the same dishes day in a day out for most of my life that far. While nothing can beat the convenience of going to late-night DLG for a grilled cheese and fries, making something with your own hands, even if it does not look the greatest, will taste miles better than dining commons food.

Reading through recipes online, there were some ingredients I had never heard of and could not even pronounce. I started to doubt if I would be able to find these ingredients at Albertsons or any other grocery store. I was right. If I wanted to explore all these different cuisines, I would need to find specialty stores that carried what I was looking for. All the grocery stores that I found and have visited countless times since are locally owned and operated, so you can also feel good about supporting local Goleta and Santa Barbara businesses. Although many of these grocery stores are not within walking or biking distance of Isla Vista, you will not regret making the trip. Your stomach will not either.

Tino’s Italian Grocery

When I first heard about Tino’s Italian Grocery, I did not understand why there needed to be a store dedicated to Italian food. To me, Italian food was pasta with jarred tomato pasta sauce and frozen cardboard pizza. Believe it or not, there is plenty more to Italian cuisine. Lining the shelves are imported Italian snacks and treats, with everything from grissini—skinny breadsticks—to chicche con crema al cacao—biscuits with a creamy chocolate filling. At their deli counter, they offer a wide selection of salumi, mortadella, and other cured meats. By the meats are a variety of cheeses, from the classic Parmigiano-Reggiano to fresh burrata—a cheese similar in appearance to mozzarella with a creamy interior. And if that was not enough, they make deli-style sandwiches to order. The “deluxe” sandwich combines the best of Italian meats and cheeses in a surprisingly filling and tasty sandwich, perfect to grab and go before heading to the wharf or the beach. What makes this one of my favorite grocery stores is the guanciale—cured pork jowl rubbed in spices, often used in pasta dishes in spaghetti alla carbonara.

Choi’s Oriental Market

Choi’s Oriental Market is the only Korean grocery store in all of Santa Barbara. While Santa Barbara is not known for its Korean food, do not let that lower your expectations. Inside the unassuming storefront is a complete restaurant with traditional Korean dishes like jajangmyeon—a noodle dish served with a savory black bean sauce—and soondubu jjigae—a stew made with chili paste, soft tofu, and vegetables—perfect for those cold, rainy winter quarter days when going to class is the last thing on your mind. The aisles of the market offer staples of Korean cuisine—kimchi, chili paste, Korean toasted sesame oil, seaweed, and every thickness of dried noodle you could possibly imagine. On most days, the owners are greeting customers with a smile at the register and preparing dishes in the back kitchen. They are always willing to go the extra mile and are happy to help explain things from people who may not be very familiar with Korean food.

Indo China Market

The closest grocery store to Isla Vista, Indo China Market is packed to the brim with goods typically found in an Asian grocery store. Whenever I am craving my parents’ home cooking, everything I need can be found in this store, including spicy chili oil, frozen scallion pancakes, and crispy sweet and savory rice crackers. You cannot go wrong with blindly picking from their wide selection of instant noodles. Besides food, they also sell dinnerware and utensils like chopsticks for anything that you are going to the store for. And if you are really passionate about rice, they’ve got fancy rice cookers too. While the store is not the most organized or clean establishment, the employees are always happy to help you find what you are looking for, and that is all part of the experience. If your looking for a sweet treat, I highly recommend grabbing a pack of Melona bars, a South Korean melon flavored ice milk pop with a refreshing flavor and unique texture.

Santa Cruz Markets

With one location in Goleta and one in Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz Markets focuses on Hispanic foods, offering fresh produce and full-service meat counter at very affordable prices. Whether you are buying pork shoulder for chile verde or just tortilla chips and salsa, their prices are lower than larger chain grocery stores like Sprouts or Albertsons. If there is one secret ingredient to making fresh tortillas, it is lard. Lard gives tortillas its moist, airy, and rich flavor and texture. But while it seems like a common ingredient, Santa Cruz Markets is one of the few stores that sell lard. Entering the store feels like stepping into a time machine and going back in time. At the register, employees enter prices of items manually one by one. These quirks make shopping here a very unique experience. And if you are looking for merch, both locations sell t-shirts that come in three colors to rep your local grocery store.

These are a few of my favorite specialty stores, and not an exhaustive list. While it may not seem like it, Santa Barbara has small gems that you just need to look a little harder for, but you will be rewarded with a diverse amount of new experiences that will prepare yourself for the rest of your life.

The UCSB campus and the surrounding student neighborhood of Isla Vista hosts a variety of surf spots, which makes it possible to participate in ocean recreation anytime of the year. With miles of coastline, there are a surf breaks for any skill level and organizations on campus that offer rentals for kayaks, paddleboards and even wetsuits. Due to the temperate climate in Santa Barbara students are always on the beach and in the water participating in their favorite water sports with friends and classmates.

This guide will cover the different surf breaks and beaches that surround the UCSB campus and Isla Vista, while also providing some information on how to rent or borrow items for water activities.

Sands Beach

Sands beach is the largest beach and usually has the most student activity from the Isla Vista area. With nice white sand and a coastline that stretches for miles to the north it is the nicest beach in the Goleta IV area. Sands is located just around coal oil point nature preserve and is home to the endangered snowy plover. On a sunny day there will be hundreds of students tanning, playing spike ball, and surfing.

The surf at Sands is the best in the area as the beach has the most exposure to western swells that come from the north pacific ocean. Sands is the only beach in the area that faces west as the other beaches in the Goleta area face south and east, a California oddity. Sands will always offer up something to surf and is usually crowded with surfers on shortboards everyday of the week. Sands offers stellar surf on the right west swell and is a dream break located in students’ backyards.

Further north of Sands, the beach continues and local Goleta residents often visit this area to bring their family and children. The surf north of sands is also premium and often less crowded than the beach located close to coal oil point. Sands beach is primarily a break for shortboarding and the local students can get aggressive in the surfing lineup. This is usually a break for more intermediate to advanced surfers and can be a difficult wave for beginners, due to its fast nature and steep waves.

Devereux

Devereux is the point and beach that extends east from coal oil point, offering a more relaxed surf break that is friendly to beginners. On a day of good surf there will be hundreds of surfers on their longboards, soaking up the sun and the surf in a relaxed style that harkens back to the imagery of The Endless Summer. The Devereux beach also attracts students who are looking for a nice beach day and extends for a half mile beyond Isla Vista’s final houses. Devereux has more than just surfers with people who kayak, paddleboard and free dive in the surrounding kelp beds and calm waters. Devereux offers a unique point break for beginning surfers and is often where students try surfing for their first time.

During a low tide, Devereux becomes a place of exploration with tide pools appearing where individuals were surfing mere hours earlier. These tide pools host a variety of wildlife such as crabs, lobsters and sea anemones. Classes on marine biology at UCSB visit the Devereux tide pools to learn about the diverse ocean ecology of Santa Barbara.

Peskies

Peskies located down the stairs from the cross street of Del Playa and Camino Pescadero, is a local surf spot for UCSB students who live in Isla Vista. The name Peskies originates from a cross between Playa, in Del Playa, and Pescadero, in Camino Pescadero. Peskies is a novelty wave for student who can watch the break from their own ocean side homes on Del Playa, waiting for the perfect conditions. Surfing at Peskies allows students to surf right outside their home and practically in their own backyard. While not a stellar break by any means it does offer up decent surf year round right by IV. The easy beach access allows individuals to kite surf and paddleboard right from this surf break.

The Channel Islands Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa to the south of Isla Vista, block much of the south swell which hits Southern California in the summer months. This limits much of the surf that occurs in San Diego and Orange Counties and makes Santa Barbara’s surf season primarily in the winter. Despite the islands, small western swells can still make south facing breaks such as Peskies turn on and offer fun surf.

Depressions

Depressions is located to the west of campus point and is a sand bar beach created by the slough from the UCSB lagoon. It is part of the UCSB campus and is accessible through trails from campus. To the east of Manzanita Village, a UCSB residence hall, Depressions is an often unsurfed spot that has no crowds and on the right swell awesome surf. When the surf gets larger Depressions can offer a spitting left wave which breaks right off of Campus Point and to the west.

Depressions is usually visited by second and third year students who live in the UCSB residence halls of Manzanita Village and San Rafael. Depressions beach is usually not crowded and is a nice spot for a beach day away from the hectic atmosphere of IV and UCSB student life. Behind Depressions are large cliffs and hiking trails, where students and visitors come to enjoy the view and take in the natural beauty of the UCSB campus.

Campus Point

Campus Point is located on campus and is a point break that is well protected. Campus Point faces east towards Santa Barbara, so the surf is usually less powerful than in the surrounding beaches. Campus Point is visited most often by freshman students who live in the dorms on the far side of campus: Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and Anacapa Halls. On the beach of Campus Point, there is a place to rent surfboards, wetsuits and kayaks. The equipment is rented for a low fee of $10 and is provided through the UCSB Rec Cen.

Campus Point is a unique feature of the UCSB campus and is a great place to learn to surf. I learned to surf at Campus Point as a freshman at UCSB and the protected geography of the point makes it a great beginners surf break. On larger days when the surf is strong campus point gets crowded with surfers as the protection offered by the point refines the waves for smooth rides. While mostly a long boarding spot some individuals choose to bring their shortboards down to Campus Point on a good swell.

Oasis

The Oasis is a house located on the corner of Camino Lindo and Del Playa, which allows students to borrow surfboards, kayaks, and wetsuits. Students who are part of the Excursion Club on campus often live in the house. Membership in the Excursion Club is the only requirement for borrowing recreational items and students make use of the shared equipment daily. The club not only provides recreational items for water activities but students can also borrow camping gear and other hiking essentials. The Excursion Club hosts group hikes and camping trips that students can participate in and fosters student appreciation for the multitude of recreational activities that are available in the Santa Barbara area.

With so many options to get involved in water activities, made possible by IV’s proximity to the ocean, students often use their free time to enjoy the ocean. The ability to borrow equipment allows students to make the most of the ocean surrounding the UCSB campus and Isla Vista. Learning to surf, going on a kayak trip or simply swimming in the ocean are all a part of many students UCSB experience, where living next to the ocean can bring new hobbies and ways to enjoy life.

The UCSB Lagoon is bordered by the UCen to the north, Campus Point to the east and south, and the Manzanita Village dormatory with its popular Carillo Pool to the west. The Lagoon forms the picturesque backdrop for graduation ceremonies and the The Club at UCSB (formerly known as the Faculty Club). Since 1999, the Lagoon has been the focus of extensive landscape and habitat restoration efforts by the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER), harnessing the combined efforts of student interns, staff, and faculty. An interactive, self-guided nature tour authored by CCBER is available for those with extra time to enjoy the Lagoon’s spectacular beauty.

The Labryrith

The 0.6 mile-long labyrinth path located on “Lagoon Island” is perfect for getting away from daily stresses and connecting with your inner self. It took two months to construct this intricate yet simple path made of decomposed granite and river rocks in 2011. Carol Greer, the mastermind behind this masterpiece, suggested this idea and donates the money to make it happen. Greer was inspired to introduce this to UCSB because, “the Labyrinth is a universal cultural symbol used since ancient times for contemplation and meditation. It is often viewed as a metaphor for life’s journey.” It is free to the public and is recommended for all students and visitors to experience it’s calming beauty.